ME: Hunter Shot on First Day of Pheasant Hunting Season

James Morrill, 59, was hunting with friends on Cheabeague Island in Casco
Bay when he was struck in the chest with a pellet from a shotgun blast aimed
at a pheasant.

A pheasant hunter is recovering after being hit in the chest with a
shotgun pellet on the first day of Maine's pheasant hunting season.

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife spokeswoman Deborah
Turcotte says James Morrill, 59, was hunting pheasant with friends when
yesterday on Chebeague Island in Casco Bay when the accident occurred.

Turcotte says Morrill had gone into some underbrush with his dog. When a
pheasant emerged from the same area, it was shot by Leon Hamilton, 60, of
Chebeague Island. One of the pellets from the shotgun blast struck Morrill
in the chest.

Hamilton told game wardens he didn't know that Morrill was in the bushes.
Morrill was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where he was treated
and released. Turcotte says Morrill is from the Yarmouth area.

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